Full review

I had a great experience at Alpine Valley. I brought my 10 yr old son to teach him to ski. Our instructor (Doug) was great! Slope conditions great with 42 inch base and make snow as well. Magic carpet (no rope tow) was wonderful and made it easy for my son to get on and off quickly. In case you don't know what a "magic carpet" is, just envision a people mover at an airport. The aesthetics/architecture were reminiscent of a Scandanavian country. It is self-serve for the ski boots. They pick out appropriate ski poles. It is small resort, convenient, 45 minutes from Ann Arbor. Cafeteria had home-made soups, grilled cheese made fresh, pizza and anything else you would want cooked on a grill and service was great in all areas. Small lounge with a fireplace overlooking the slopes. Chair lift for green was not operating (maybe because it was a friday which was not busy), but the ski instructor took my son on a blue chairlift (since he wanted to try one out) and skied backwards with my son in tow down this blue slope since he was a novice. Perfect for convenience and beginner skiers. I can only comment on the one blue run which again good condition. Runs are short, elevation 1200 ft with a drop of 300ft and their website states the longest run is 0.1mi (I'm not sure if that was a typo or not) but it is Michigan. Their claim to fame on their website was having the most green runs (40+). Very attentive charilift operator when my son fell off. Also, they added only an additional $15/hr to instruct myself as well.